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Should I stay or should I go? Gender differences in professional employment

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  • Leuze, Kathrin
  • Rusconi, Alessandra

Abstract

Occupational sex segregation is a persistent source of social inequalities. The increasing participation of women in tertiary education and rising female employment rates, however, have given hope that gender inequalities will decline as a result of growing female opportunities for high skill employment in the service sector, e.g. the professions. This paper asks whether such optimistic accounts are justified by comparing male and female professional career trajectories in Germany. Our main assumptions hold that, even today, strong gender differences continue to exist between public and private sector professions, which are further aggravated by different forms of family commitment. Overall, our analyses demonstrate that even among highly qualified men and women, important patterns of sex segregation are present. An initial horizontal segregation between public and private sectors brings about "equal, but different" career prospects, which in the phase of family formation turn into vertical segregation, promoting "different and therefore unequal" labor market chances.

Suggested Citation

  • Leuze, Kathrin & Rusconi, Alessandra, 2009. "Should I stay or should I go? Gender differences in professional employment," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Skill Formation and Labor Markets SP I 2009-501, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:wzbslm:spi2009501
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Moen, Phyllis, 2010. "From "work-family" to the "gendered life course" and "fit": Five challenges to the field," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Skill Formation and Labor Markets SP I 2010-501, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
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    5. Blanck, Jonna M. & Edelstein, Benjamin & Powell, Justin J.W., 2013. "Von der schulischen Segregation zur inklusiven Bildung? Die Wirkung der UN-Konvention über die Rechte von Menschen mit Behinderungen auf Bildungsreformen in Bayern und Schleswig-Holstein," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Skill Formation and Labor Markets SP I 2013-504, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    6. Wotschack, Philip, 2010. "Working-time options over the life course: New challenges to German companies in times of crisis," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Skill Formation and Labor Markets SP I 2010-502, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    7. Solga, Heike & Brzinsky-Fay, Christian & Graf, Lukas & Gresch, Cornelia & Protsch, Paula, 2013. "Vergleiche innerhalb von Gruppen und institutionelle Gelingensbedingungen: Vielversprechende Perspektiven für die Ungleichheitsforschung," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Skill Formation and Labor Markets SP I 2013-501, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    8. Solga, Heike & Protsch, Paula & Ebner, Christian & Brzinsky-Fay, Christian, 2014. "The German vocational education and training system: Its institutional configuration, strengths, and challenges," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Skill Formation and Labor Markets SP I 2014-502, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    9. Wotschack, Philip & Scheier, Franziska & Schulte-Braucks, Philipp & Solga, Heike, 2011. "Mehr Zeit für Weiterbildung: Neue Wege der betrieblichen Arbeitszeitgestaltung," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Skill Formation and Labor Markets SP I 2011-501, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    10. Solga, Heike & Kretschmann, Claudia, 2010. "Follow-up-Studie zur Evaluation des Projekts "Abschlussquote erhöhen - Berufsfähigkeit steigern"," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Skill Formation and Labor Markets SP I 2010-503, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    11. Pfahl, Lisa & Powell, Justin J. W., 2010. "The special education profession and the discourse of learning disability in Germany," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Skill Formation and Labor Markets SP I 2010-504, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    12. Mirko Savic, Ivan Zubovic, Danica Drakulic, 2014. "Dynamics Of Female Participation In Higher Education And Employment – The Absorption Index," Ekonomika, Journal for Economic Theory and Practice and Social Issues 2014-01, „Ekonomika“ Society of Economists, Niš (Serbia).
    13. Schulte-Braucks, Philipp, 2013. "Von Schweden lernen: Weiterbildung gering Qualifizierter im Rahmen der kommunalen Erwachsenenbildung (Komvux)," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Skill Formation and Labor Markets SP I 2013-502, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    14. Wotschack, Philip & Solga, Heike, 2013. "Voraussetzungen einer guten betrieblichen Weiterbildungspraxis: Ergebnisse aus zehn Fallstudien in 'Best-Practice'-Betrieben," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Skill Formation and Labor Markets SP I 2013-503, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.

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